Free to install his own offense instead of adapting the installed plans of another coach, Lazor has his eyes on the fullback position — in large part thanks to Ryan Hewitt.

Lazor has made a point to keep fullbacks involved in OTAs and has big plans for Hewitt in particular, per Jim Owczarski and Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer:

“The fullback is a lost art to some degree. We just made an emphasis from the first day of practice to have some fullback involved every day,” Lazor said. “I think when you’re in that position you have to be able to have some versatility, and Ryan has proven that he can play tight end. Sometimes you have fullbacks who can double as halfbacks. He can double as a tight end. Not a halfback yet. I feel good about him. He’s a smart guy. He’s a tough guy. In practice, you can see if you put him in all those roles he doesn’t blink.”

Hewitt classifies as more of an h-back given his ability to serve in different positions. But the Bengals got away from creative usage a year ago in a catastrophe of a season where poor line play and gameplans collided to predictable results.

It’ll be interesting to see how Lazor plans to use Hewitt in tandem with what looks like a deep offense, including a backfield featuring Joe Mixon, Giovani Bernard and rookie Mark Walton.

Perhaps the bigger point here than Hewitt himself is Lazor going out of his way to work in the talent he has and build the offense around it. Playing to a player’s strengths is where the good teams win, so if Lazor’s doing it for Hewitt, he’s likely applying it to other impact players as well.